A Music-related blog containing information and commentary of my favorite music, as well as some choice downloads of quality, hard-to-find music (unofficial releases, ROIO's, concert bootlegs, etc.) available on the web.

After their massive 1977 world tour, Genesis returned to the studio to mix and edit hundreds of hours of tape from the past 2 tours to compile a new double live album (The excellent Seconds Out, released in Oct 77 ). It was at this time that guitarist Steve Hackett, after struggling long and hard with his decision over the past several months, officially left the band. After surviving the departure of their charismatic singer Peter Gabriel two years earlier, the band was suddenly down to a trio. This time, however, they wasted no time in deciding that they would not try to replace Hackett, and guitarist-bassist Mike Rutherford would play all the guitar and bass parts himself for the next album, which they immediately began work on. The album, which was appropriately titled And Then There Were Three was released in April 1978. But Hackett's departure would have a profound effect on the group. The new album, although quite succesfsul, and by all acccounts a strong album, was nonetheless a noticeable departure for the group, as it shifted away from the more 'progressive' style and more towards shorter, radio-friendly songs (For the first time, there were no songs 8 min or longer, or that contained extended instrumental sections), and produced the band's first-ever hit single, 'Follow You Follow Me'. And despite the move toward radio pop, the bulk of the album's style and content, still was much more like progressive rock than popmusic, and thus was still mostly endorsed by Genesis fans old and new.
But the 1978 tour, which was their biggest ever, now that was still, predominantly, classic Genesis. Despite any rumblings about the direction the band was headed, Genesis Live was still a sight to behold. American jazz-rock guitarist Darryl Stuermer was brought in, along with the successful previous tour's drummer, Chester Thompson, as 'guest musicians'. Further enhancing their state-of-the-art lighting and effects were the use of huge rotating mirrors which would move and focus the lights around the stage, to breathtaking effects. In addition to the new songs, also added to the setlist for this tour were a couple of older classics, 'The Fountain of Salmacis and 'In the Cage', and a more recent favorite that had never been played live before, 'Ripples' (unfortunately, the epic 'Supper's Ready' was dropped for this and subsequent tours). The unparalleled success of the new album and tour reinforced to the band that they were on the right track, and so this trio form of the group, bolstered by Stuermer and Thompson for the live shows, remained the same for nearly 20 years, until 1996, when Phil Collins decided to (temporarily) leave the the group. So, here, is the next in this series of hard-to-find PRRP Genesis series releases, a very good quality show from fairly early in the tour, which includes a few songs that were not played at later dates. I saw them on this tour, and despite all the changes, they were still most impressive.

Following their highly successful 1976 tour, Genesis went right back to the studio (this time to a new studio in The Netherlands) to work on their next album. The result was another great, classic Genesis album, Wind and Wuthering, which was released in December 1976, making it their 2nd album of 1976. For the Wind and Wuthering Tour (Jan-Jun 1977), they recruited drummer Chester Thompson (of Frank Zappa and Weather Report fame) to fill-in and they put on their biggest and probably best show and tour to date. However, guitarist Steve Hackett was dismayed that much of the material he had written for the new album was rejected by the band and not included. Steve had already had success and acclaim for his own solo album (Voyage of the Acolyte, 1975), and was now feeling somewhat restricted within the group. So, following this tour, Steve left Genesis to concentrate on his solo career. The loss of Steve's songwriting influences and virtuoso, imaginative guitar-playing had profound effects on the group, as Genesis would never be the same again. Subsequent releases (as a trio) were more dominated by Phil Collins, and they moved from a progressive-rock band to a more radio-friendly, hit-producing pop-rock band. Thus, the 1977 tour was the last to feature the 'classic' Genesis lineup, and was one of their best-ever tours. A great official live album (Seconds Out) was compiled primarily from this tour. Continuing with presenting some of the lesser-available PRRP Genesis recordings, this show, from early in the US leg of the tour, although not one of the very best recordings from this tour (excellent recordings from London 1/3/77, Dallas 3/19/77, Sao Paulo 5/21/77, and Zurich 7/2/77 are all readily available), this is still nonetheless a great show, highly listenable, and a worthy addition to any collection of Genesis shows. PRRP has done a good remastering job in making the available recording for this show come alive.

Continuing with this series of hard-to-find PRRP Genesis recordings, here is a fine show from the surprisingly triumphant 1976 Trick of the Tail Tour. Following the much-publicized departure of Peter Gabriel at the end of the Lamb tour in 1975, Genesis faced it's toughest challenge. Most fans and critics thought the band was essentially finished without enigmatic frontman Gabriel. Yet the remaining quartet already had a wealth of strong new songs and head right back into the studio to work on their next album, albeit without a lead vocalist. Although a search for a vocalist was conducted, they could not find anyone they all thought would work out. And even the rest of the band was dubious whether drummer Phil Collins had the chops to successfully fill that role. Collins previously had mostly done background and harmony vocals, and although everyone knew he had a soft, pleasant, and sweet voice, no one thought he would be right for the louder, more aggressive, growlier songs. But, left with few options, they gave their bandmate the chance, and he succeeded beyond all expectations, and well the rest is history. The album came out in early 1976 to nearly universal accalim, praised by fans and critics alike, and continued their string of top-notch albums without missing a beat. The only question now was, could their live show live up their previous high standards? For the live shows, they needed to add a drummer, as Phil was now up in front singing for most of the show, so they recruited the exciting and dynamic Bill Bruford (of Yes) to fill-in and provide the needed drumming presence. Without Gabriel, they did away with the costumes and theatrical aspects of the shows, and concentrated on the music, although continued with the introductory stories before songs, and enhanced the stage show with state-of-the-art lighting and effects. The first Genesis live show with Phil as singer took place in London, Ontario in March 1976. The show was an unqualified success. By the time Genesis reached the Congresshalle in Hamburg on June 29, 1976, they were on the final leg of a triumphant five-month world tour. Having defied all expectations and proven their sternest critics wrong, they had done the seemingly impossible – not only did they survive the departure of the Peter Gabriel and produced a masterful classic Genesis album, but they were more popular than ever. Now, I know that there are still many 'snooty' so-called Genesis fans that claim they only like Genesis during 'the Gabriel years', but I firmly believe that the split came at the right time and was best for all concerned, with both Gabriel and Genesis growing and probably producing much better music than if they had tried to stay together unhappily. And the fact is that Genesis remained a great progressive rock band for at least a couple more years after the split. Really, it was when Steve Hackett subsequently left after the 1977 tour that there was a serious toll on the band and its musical direction. There was enough talent and creativity in the group that they could survivie the loss of Gabriel, but the combined loss of both Gabriel and Hackett was just too much, and forever changed the group's music, style, and following. But, here in this 1976 show, we can enjoy and appreciate the great band that Genesis was, even without Gabriel.

Here is the first Genesis show to be featured here from the excellent PRRP (Progressive Rock Remasters Project) Genesis Series (and ones that are generally not available from any other blog!), titled 'The Very Last Pound', as this was the very last show of the Selling England By The Pound Tour in 1974. This was the 3rd and last show at the Academy of Music in NY. The first show is featured in a very good and widely available boot (one version of which is another PRRP release, PRRPGS-013, which can be obtained at Qualitybootz and other places). This one, however, is the much lesser heard last show, which is also very good. It has the same setlist as the first show, with the exception of 'More Fool Me' replaced 'Horizions' from that set. This was one of my favorite Genesis tours, probably because Selling England and Foxtrot are my favorite Genesis albums, and this tour specifically featured those albums. One other note: this tour also featured the full version of 'Firth of Fifth', with the extended keyboard introduction (my favorite part), which was not included in the later versions of this song on subsequent tours (apparently Tony had some difficulty playing the part live, so they cut it out). Which makes these earlier versions all the more valuable. So, here's to a great Genesis show from 1974.

Tracklist:
Disc 1
01. Watcher Of The Skies 8:22
02. The Story Of The Stolen Guitars 1:52
03. Dancing With The Moonlit Knight 8:58
04. Romeo Story 2:07
05. The Cinema Show 11:04
06. I Know What I Like 6:36
07. Five Rivers Story 2:57
08. Firth Of Fifth 9:41
Total Time 51:37

Friday, March 12, 2010

In honor of their recent induction into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, this month I will be featuring one of my all-time favorite bands, GENESIS. Although they are probably my overall favorite, and I certainly have more Genesis and Genesis-related stuff than any other band, I have not featured them much on this blog simply because most of the Genesis stuff is readily available elsewhere. I see no reason to re-post stuff that can be accessed easily through other sites. So, what I will try to do is provide some information to those that may not be that familiar with the band that will help direct them to what I think are the very best of the Genesis shows and recordings out there. I also will feature some of the lesser-known or difficult to find shows and recordings.

First of all, the essential place for all Genesis-related information, ROIO information and ratings, tour info, artwork, etc. is, of course, Genesis – The Movement:http://www.genesis-movement.org/

Fortunately, there are numerous high quality ROIO recordings from most phases of the career of Genesis, which started as one of the premier progressive rock bands in the early seventies, and eventually evolved into a very successful pop-rock band in the eighties. Of course, most of the real fans of the band much prefer the earlier progressive rock days, but the band has remained very productive and entertaining through all stages of their career, and has always been known for their sensational live shows. Not only are there numerous great shows, but also many groups (such as the Progressive Rock Remasters Project [PRRP], TM Productions, GASP, SAB, BURP, and other remasters groups) have dedicated themselves to preserving, remastering, and improving the sound from the available recordings to provide much more pleasant listening experiences of these concerts. So, much thanks goes to all those that have been involved in making these shows available to fans all over the world.

Ok, so to get started, here are some of what I would say are the very best sounding Genesis ROIOs, one taken from each year or tour from 1970 to 1980. For most of these there are numerous different recorded versions from the same date, so I have indicated what I think is the best version:

1970-1972 - The Complete BBC Sessions (FM Broadcasts)
(since most of the earliest concert recordings are not that great, best bet is to start with these excellent BBC shows for these years).1973-02-24 – Live in Leicester - TM Productions
1974-04-21 – Montreal – A Classic Broadcast Revisited PRRP-SAE-004
1975-01-11 – Lakeland, FL – Broadway Everglades PRRPGS-018
1976-06-10 – Live in London - TM Productions
1977-07-02 – Zurich Revisited – Digital Bros.
1978-10-13 – Live in Chicago – TM Productions
1980-05-07 – London – Perfect Lyceum or As Good as Gold

Also, recently, a number of excellent Genesis shows have become available for streaming at Wolfgang’s Vault (including the 01-24-1975 Shrine Auditorium Full Lamb Show). Check ‘em out.

So, starting next week, I will start posting some additional shows, that may not be quite up to the quality of those noted here, but are certainly still highly worthwhile, and are presently not readily available for download at the usual sites. In particular, I will be featuring several PRRP releases that I have recently obtained. Ever since last Fall, when 'Qualitybootz' featured a great number of PRRP Genesis shows (thanks again for those!), I have been trying to track down the rest of this incredible remastered series. Well, over several months I have managed to find all of them (but it wasn't easy) that haven't yet been featured on one of the regular blogs. So, I will start putting these shows up next week (all in Lossless). So, stay tuned for those. In the meantime, once again, here’s to Genesis. Congratulations to a great band!

Here's a great show from the Kinks 1977 tour, that has only recently become available. This one has a fantastic setlist, featuring a bunch of songs from the wonderful Sleepwalker album, as well as rarely played gems like 'Slum Kids' and 'Father Christmas'. These in addition to the usual assortment of hits and energetic performance add up to a real gem. This is one of the 'Lampinski' shows, one of hundreds of high quality audience recordings taped by Dan Lampinski around the Boston and RI area throughout the '70's and '80's, that had not been made available to the bootleg community until very recently (like within the last few months). Although this one has been available at a few other sites recently, I thought it was worth posting here. Great show from one of the all-time great bands.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Very Good Quality
NEW Upgrade! Now available in Lossless (FLAC) as well as

mp3 @ 320

OK, before I move on to my next 'Featured Artist', I wanted to post a couple of great shows from former featured artists that I only recently acquired (and thus didn't have when I posted the other stuff). The first is from The Guess Who, and this is a real find. There are very few decent concert boots by these guys, so I was thrilled to find this FM radio broadcast from 1974, which still features the classic (and best ) group lineup. This is from the end of their Spring 1974 tour, and thus one of the last shows before guitarists Kurt Winter and Donnie McDougall left the group (or were kicked out, it's not clear). After they departed, jazz-pop guitarist Domenic Troiano was brought in, and the decline and end of The Guess Who was near. This show, however, still shows them near their peak form (This one comes at the time of Road Food and the single 'Clap For The Wolfman', which is a bit past their peak, I would have preferred a show from around 1972, around the time of Rockin', but this is still good.) This is a very good (clean) radio recording (lacking much low end, but otherwise great). Unfortunately, the show was marred somewhat early on by some equipment failures (blown amp or power outage or something) which causes delays, and forces Burton Cummings to ad lib and play a couple songs on piano only. Detracting from the recording also is the KSHE DJ, who feels compelled to interject something anytime there is a lull on stage (between songs, etc.). These are minor complaints, however, as this is still the best Guess Who bootleg I've heard, featuring a full show and many of their classics (including a rockin' 20-minute American Woman/Truckin/No Sugar Tonight Medley). Although not as good as their classic Live at the Paramount official live album, this is the best boot show I've found. Still a surprisingly underrated band.

Due to technical problems, "Artificial Flowers" and "Sour Suite" were played as solo piano pieces by Burton.

The Band:

Gary Peterson

Bill Wallace

Burton Cummings

Kurt Winter

Donnie McDougall

Disc One - 61:07 minutes

01. Intro

02. Bus Rider

03. New Mother Nature

04. Artificial Flowers

05. Sour Suite

06. >> interlude

07. Undun

08. Albert Flasher

09. Runnin' Back To Saskatoon

10. Glamour Boy

11. Self Pity

12. Clap For The Wolfman

13. These Eyes

14. Star Baby

15. >> interlude

16. Straighten Out

17. Bye Bye Babe

Disc Two - 40:15 minutes

01. Medley: American Woman / Truckin' Off Across The Sky / No Sugar Tonight 20:55

Here's another excellent, short but sweet Guess Who show, audio taken from the old 'In Concert' TV show from 1973 (FM radio simulcast-that's how they did these things back in the 'old days'). Same lineup as above. Good audio quality. Short 22 minute set for TV broadcast. You can add this to the above set, or just take as is. Enjoy!

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This site respects and supports artists and artist rights. Please support the artists by purchasing their officially released music through normal channels. The music files, information, and downloads linked here represent unreleased recordings that are not available through any official channels. This music is meant to supplement (and not replace) the currently available official releases for fans that want to explore deeper into an artists repertoire than is possible through official releases only (through demos, outtakes, alternate versions, and concert recordings). The music linked here is presented for sampling and evaluation purposes. By all means, if you enjoy the music from any artists represented here, please buy their official releases. All music files linked here are freely available elsewhere on the internet and no music files are stored at this site. I hope you find new music to enjoy here.

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